zands, they weren't selling Hawaiian mango trees.......likely because of a lack of available budwood for any particular kind. The 'hardest to find' tree at the sale ,other than Angie wich I think Fairchild only sells, was Madame Francis, the most well known Haitian mango (a pretty tasty if fibrous fruit by the way). The others can all be found at most of the major tropical fruit nurseries. And I kind of agree.....Hawaiian mangos really aren't that interesting. I tried many of them last year on a trip to the big island. Best varieties over there were ones introduced from Florida and elsewhere. Mangos like Pope and Mapulehu are ok but nothing spectacular. At one point during one lecture Dr. Campbell almost let it slip something to the effect that "I much prefer Florida mangoes to..." but he stopped himself. One repeated theme about the Hawaiian mangoes during the lecture was that they all seem very anthracnose susceptible. And I only remember 2 of them deemed to have any kind of commercial potential: Fukuda and Rapoza.

WOW, sure is amazing! Thx for sharing, Donna (^_^)

Carol, it is good that you are involved in projects for Haiti. I like the food and all the mangoes that I tried from there are of good flavor. In their booth there were many names and sizes but with no samples in sight, I did not want to buy them and try them at home and not like them afterward. There was also another booth from the Rare Fruit group and I also did not get any mangoes there, the well know names were like $3. I bought the $1 mangoes because I like the taste when I bought in previous years, not because they were cheap. If I don't like them, they are not cheap for me because I end up throwing them, same with turpentine taste mangoes. We have a local store Lucky's that says they have similar food like Whole Foods for cheaper price. Well, at the beginning of the mango season they had big mangoes 3 for a $1, and I bought some and after trying them they went straight to the garbage, needless to say I won't buy them again. Sometimes you can get at the market some Ataulfo smaller mangoes that are good and after mango season is over, if you want to taste some good mango Alphonso variety, you can buy the mango ice cream from Haagen- Dazs, you won't be disappointed. When I was about 18, I spent some time in India and I am familiar with their food and like it. So, yes! my mango chutney is full of spices, hot but not too much because my daughter likes it too. Silvia

The interior designer neighbor never showed up, and she lives right next door! The one down the street did come over with her baby in a stroller, which I helped her bring into the house, and I did give her a cookie, which she liked. I did get some good info from her about house colors, etc, and that was useful. She sort of confirmed what I wanted to do, and she also told me that the agent that she bought her house from was the same one (Amber) that we had first interviewed, and so her house ended up being all white, which she (Jackie) thought was boring but still just okay. Jackie does like my dining room as it is, and she also likes our exterior colors. Later, another neighbor from further away in Westchester dropped by to pick up some plants that I wanted removed, and I gave him a couple of cookies. As it turns out, this neighbor (who lives near Loyola Marymount) is a lawyer and L.A. City judge, but he was very good at picking up and moving heavy plants. He came by in his car and then went back to his house to get his truck and a couple of plants to give to me, and he brought his son back with him to help load the plants that he had moved to my driveway. I asked him what his wife thought about all the plants he was bringing home, and he told me that fortunately she was out of town! Incidentally, Nicole, I gave him one of the beautiful ric rac epiphyllum that you had given me, which has been doing very well for me, but I won't be able to take it to the desert with me. If I ever want it back, I could still get a cutting from him. I also gave him my huge ginger plant in a huge heavy pot, which I could not lift myself. This ginger has a wonderful sweet fragrance, which is why I was growing it. Later I will post a recipe for the melomakarona with the revisions I made. The recipe is easy enough, but there are a few tricks to making it, and all recipes say to follow the instructions carefully, even though they are simple. Although I ended up with a fair amount of leftover syrup, I do not consider this a problem, and the syrup can be used for other things. The dough has to be handled carefully, and I think I may have not squished the cookies together sufficiently. They did not fall apart, but they do tend to crumble slightly while being eaten, and so I eat them with a spoon. I think I did not bake them quite long enough. The recipes I looked at varied the baking temperature and baking time, and I did not pay close enough attention to these variations, but now I know! I think they need a bit more clove, and the walnuts that I put on top did not need the cinnamon that I added to them, although it didn't really hurt.